Parly demands crackdown on ‘ghost employee’ syndicate in government

Parliament has highlighted the urgent need to hold accountable those responsible for creating ghost positions in government departments.

This comes after Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration Chairperson, Jan de Villiers, revealed that a syndicate was orchestrating the creation of ghost employees through systemic corruption.

De Villiers says the extent of the problem is unknown. He has also stressed the importance of conducting physical audits to detect ghost employees on the payroll.

De Villiers says, “We suspect that this type of syndicate’s criminal activity in the state is actually supported by way more individuals because you almost need an ecosystem to keep those people in the system and keep paying them their salaries, and their leave days and their bonuses.”

“ So I think that identifying the ghost is one thing, but it’s very important that there needs to be investigation and prosecution and then punishment, people going to jail for the creation of these ghost employees.”

PODCAST: Interview with De Villiers on SA fm’s First Take Programme regarding ghost positions: